Aerial navigation.



PATENTED JULY 7, 1908.

C A MOORE 6: E BARROW AERIAL NAVIGATION.

APPLICATION 1111.21: JAN. 22. 1901.

PATENTED JULY 7, 1908. 0. A. MOORE & E. BARROW.

AERIAL NAVIGATION. PPLIOATION TI LBD JAN. 22. 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UIIAltLlCS A. MOORE, ()1? LOS ANGELES, ANDI'JLBERJ llAltltO'W, ()FOAHUENGA, CALIFORNIA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

AERIAL NAVIGATION.

Patented July 7, 1908.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that we, (in/nuns A. Moonn and ldusnnir BAuuow, the formerresiding at Los Angelcs, in the county of lies Angeles and State ofCalifornia, and the latter residing at (lahucnga, in the county of l iosAngclcs and State of (lalil'm'nia, have invented new and useful lmmovements in Aerial Navigallon, oi. which. the following is aspecification.

This iiwention. relates to aerial navigatimi, and the objects of theinvention are to provide a novel and effective means for propelling avessel through the air.

A further object is to provide for steering the vessel without employing rudders. The propelling means comprises a series of rotatingblades and a further object is to provide a novel form of blade whichwill have a greater operating power against the air than any otherdevice heretofore produced of which we are aware.

Further objects and advantages consist in the construction, combinationand arrangement of the various parts as will be hereinafter set forth.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention, and referringthereto :Figure 1 is a plan view partly in section of a machine fornavigating in the air, constructed in accordance with our invention.Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is aplan view in detail, enlarged, of a ropeller b ade. F i 4 is a sectionalView on ine xa: Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a diagrammatical view illustrating thedifferent positions of the ropeller blades at different parts of the eyee of the propeller and illustrates the means for shifting the blades.Fig. 6 is an enlarged view in section of a blade disk. Fig. 7 is anenlarged view of a portion of the ropeller showing the means forreducing iction between the propeller and the frame of the vessel. Fig.8 is a detail view, enlarged, showin a section through the circulartrack and illustrating the manner of operating the universal connectingrod from the track. Fig. 9 is a perspective view showing a propellerwith the wings removed. Fig. 10 is an enlarged detail view showing themanner of driving the end propeller shafts from the side propellershaft.

1 designates a horizontal frame which is connected at each end withhorizontal cross bars 2. At each end of each cross bar 2 are verticalrods 3. At the center of the longitudinal frame 1 is a platform 4extending on either side, at the corners of winch platform. are fourvertical rods 5 similar to the rods 3. At each side, extending parall(..l with the frame 1, are side bars which are connected to inclined rods7, the latter extending forward and aft and tapering to a point as shownin Fig. 1. As shown. in Fig. 2, rods 8 also extend to points fore andexit and conical hoods 9 are mounted on each pointed end. As shown inFig. 2, diagonal braces 10 extend from. the outer ends of vertical rods3 to a side bar 11, there being one side bar 11 on each side of the shipas shown in Fig. 1. lntersecting with each side bar 1.1 is a verticalbar 12, the upper ends of which are connectcd by braces 18, as shown inFig. 2, with vertical bars 5. In order to prevent suction each hood 9 isclosed by a wall or curtain 15.

Four gas bags 16 are employed, and as shown in Fig. 1 they are separatedby floor 1 and floor extensions 4. These gas bags 16 may or may not beemployed as desired. Their presence, however, is an additionalsafeguard, as in the event that the engines failed, the propellers wouldstop operating and at such times the gas bags would sustain the shipuntil the engines could be again started or repairs made to othermechanism which had necessitated stoppage of the engines. Obviously thegas bags 16 when employed give additional buoyancy to the vesscl,although the pro elling mechanism about to be described is a onesuflicient to sustain the ship.

Four propellers are preferably employed, one at each end of the ship andone on each side of the ship as shown in Fig. 1. The propellers areconstructed substantially a ike, the two side propellers being, however,larger than the end propellers. The side propellers are driven by ashaft 17 and the end propellers are driven by shafts 18 and 18 throughthe medium of suitable gearing hereinafter described. The engines 20 arepreferably mounted on the floor 1. The shafts 17 and 18 are connectedwith the propellers through the medium of universal joints 21 whichpermits of the necessary relative movement of the different parts of theship when in opera tion, as while all the arts of the ship arethoroughly braced and connected it is of course evident that in such astructure it will strain in operation and parts will yield somewhat, asabsolute rigidity is difficult to maintain and in fact is believed wouldbe a detrimental feature in such apparatus.

Each propeller comprises an outer and an inner ring 22 and 23, as shownin Fig. 9,-

which are connected. by spokes 24 with a tubular hub 25. The rings 22and 23 are connected together by cross rods 26, there being in thepresent instance six cross braces 26. In each propeller there are sixwings and each wing consists of a set of six blades 27, which bladesproject radially from the hub and are pivotally mounted. with. respectto the hub. Each blade 27 has, as shown in Fig. 3, a trunnion 28 at eachend, which trunnion projects into an orifice 20 in the tubular hub 25which. formsabcaring for the innerend of the blade, while the outertrunnion 28 'nojects into a bearing in the adjacent cross bar 26. Eachblade 27 is provided with a series of expansiblc disks 30, each formedof rubber with a vulcanized rim 30 provided with threads to enable thedisk to be detachably fastened to the blade. If a disk becomes destroyedit may thus be readily replaced by another disk, and to this end it isdesirable to provide a supply of spare disks when operating the ship.The blades 27 are automatically actuated axially on their trunnions 28as the propeller as a whole rotates. Connected to one edge of each bladeis a link 31, as shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, and connected to the oppo-'site edge of the blade is a link 32, the links 31 and 32 being connectedtogether by an intermediate floating link 33, the link 33 passingunrestricted through an orifice 34 in the center of the blade 27.

Extending parallel with the hub of the propeller is a universalconnecting bar 35, with which bar the respective links 32 of a set ofblades are articulated, so that when reciprocatory motion is imparted tothe universal connecting rod 35all of the blades connected with it areturned on their pivotal points and by reason of the respective bladesbeing pulled from both edges, twisting or bending of them is obviatedand their action is smooth and even. The universal connecting bars 35are automatically reci rocated through the revolution of the prope lerby means of a circular cam track 36. A cross section of the track 36 isshown in Fig. 8, from which it will be seen that the track is hollow andformed with a slot 37, and a roller 38 rides within the track 36 and hasa stem 39 which passes through the slot 37. The stem 39 carrying roller38 is mounted in the end of the universal connecting bar 35. Each camtrack 36 has an offset portion 42 whiehextends'throu h an arc of lessthanhalf a complete circle, t e offset portion having a straight sectiona and two inclined sections 1; and c. The track 36 is a revoluble trackand is supported by spokes 43 which project from a block 44, which blockforms a bearing for a short shaft 45, the outer end of which shaft ismounted in hearings in the bars 11 and 12. The inner end of shaft 45 isconnected to universal joint 21.. The tubular hub 25 of the propellerwheel is mounted on the shaft 45.

In operation there ma be at times a tendency for the side prope lerwheels to move laterally toward the bars 6, and in order to prevent anyfriction of the wheels against bars 6, anti-friction rolls 46 areemployed which will receive the thrust of the rings 23 if the lattermove towards the bars 6, although ordinarily in operation the rings 23revolve free from rollers 46. In operation as the propeller wheelrevolves, the blades 27 are held parallel with the shaft 45 during thetime that the universal connecting rod is traversing section aof thecircular track and. the blades are gradually turned on their pivots asthe universal connecting bar traverses section 0, and when theui'iiversal connecting bar reaches the straight portion of the circulartrack the blades are turned. at right angles to the shaft 45. In otherwords the plane in which they then he is parallel with the plane ofrotation of the propeller wheel so that the blades are feathered duringthe greater )art of their cycle, and. when they arrive at tie section bthey are gradually turned back again and become gradually effective forduty, doing full duty while traversing the section a. By reason of theexpansible disks 30 in the blades the action is to compress the air inthem when they are expanded and this greatly increases the effectiveworking power of the blade. If the blade were flat this compression ofair would not occur. But with the disks the air is accumulated andconfined and the effectiveness of the blade is thus very great.

By adjusting the circular tracks so that the blades do duty during theirdown stroke the action of the blades is then to exert a lifting powerwhich will raise the ship. By adjusting the circular tracks so that theblades are effective during their rear stroke they become effective topro el the ship forward, and by giving interme late adjustment to thecircular track the blades maybe caused to exert a combined action,tending to drive the ship forward and u ward, and it is evident that anydesired egree of ad'ustment to secure the exact ratio between t ese twocombined forces ma be secured readily by adjusting the circu ar track.The tracks may be adjusted in any desired manner as, for example, bymeans of ropes 47 and 48 which are connected to the track and pass oversheaves 49 thence to a drum 50, around which the ropes are wound. Byturning the drum 50 in one direction, rope 47 is wound up and rope 48 isunwound, which results in turning the circular track clockwise (Fig. 2),while by turning the drum 50 in the 0 posite direction the circulartrack is adjuste counter clockwise. The end pro ellers are used forturning the ship aroun In order to prevent the ship from rubbingagainstobects, as in starting to ascend or in coming to rest on the ground, weemploy rollers 51 which are supported by springs 52. During thefeathering action of the blades the rubber disks 30 spring back and liesubstantially flat in the plane of the blades so that there is theminimum resistance against the air of the blades when traversing theidle portion of their cycle.

The end propellers are preferably driven in opposite directions so thatwhile they both exert a lifting power, the tendency of either one toturn the ship counterbalanced by the tendei'icy of the opposite one toturn. the ship in the opposite direction. The shafts 18 and 18" arerespectively provided with bevel gears 53 which mesh with a bevel gear54 mounted on shaft 17.

The navigator stands on a deck 55 which is suspended underneath thefloor 1, on which the engines 20 are mounted, and by reason of the fourlarge spaces between the respective gas bags the navigator has a good.range of vision.

While I have termed the expansible diaphragms 80 disks, they need notnecessarily be circular.

What we claim is 1. A propeller comprising a shaft, radial wings on saidshaft, each wing comprising a series of blades, each blade having aseries of expansible disks and means for automatically feathering saidblades as the propeller revolves.

2. In aerial navigation, a propeller blade provided with self flatteningair compressing expansible disks.

3. In a propeller, a blade provided with a series of self flatteningexpansible disks.

4. In a propeller, a blade having a lurality of tireaded orifices, andexpanslble disks screwed in said orifices.

5. In a propeller, a blade provided with a plurality of orifices, andrubber expansible disks screwed in said orifices.

6. In a propeller, a blade having a plurality of orifices, a series ofexpansible disks registering with said orifices, and. means fordetachably fastening said expansible disks to the blade.

7 A propeller comprising radial wings, each. wing consisting of a seriesof pivoted blades, a pair of links connectedv to opposite edges of eachblade, an. intermediate link passing througl'i. the center of the bladeand. connected to the first links, a in'iiversal bar to which two ofsaid links are connected, rotating means for supporting said blades, andmeans for radually shiftipg said universal rod as the blades rotate.

8. A framework comprising a longitudinal floor with central lateralextensions, a pair of gas bags on opposite sides of said floor at oneend thereof, another pair of gas bags on opposite sides of said floor atthe other end thereof, said as bags being separated. fore and aft bysaid lateral extensions, propellers supported by said frame on each sidethereof and at each end of the frame, and antifriction rollers betweenthe side propellers and said framework.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands at Los AngelesCalifornia this 11th day of January 1907.

CHARLES A. MOORE. ELBERT BARROW.

In presence of- GEORGE T. HAeKLEY, FRANK L. A. GRAHAM.

